Cheryl Cole v Kerry Katona: Tattoo Celebrity Face Off

Dancing On Ice contestant
Kerry Katona and
X Factor judge
Cheryl Cole both used this week’s
National Television Awards to show off their latest tattoos. But who will win this week’s
Celebrity Face Off?

Dancing on Ice’s Kerry Katona showed off a back tattoo…

…while X Factor judge Cheryl Cole showed off her new tattoo as well…

Tattoos

As well as being a singer, X Factor judge and Ashley’s ex-wife, Cheryl Cole is also known for her array of tattoos. Her latest piece of body art, unveiled at the National Television Awards , apparently took 11 hours, with the swirly design ‘complementing’ an existing tribal butterfly design. The so-called tramp stamp joins Cheryl’s other tattoos: a tribal design on her hand, ‘Mrs C’ on the back of her neck, a piece of barbed-wire around her thigh, and a mysterious thigh design which may link up to her new addition.

Kerry Katona also showed off a shiny new back tattoo at the NTAs: a sprawling thick black tattoo to cover up a previous tattoo dedicated to ex-husband Mark Croft . Other tats include her daughter’s name Heidi on her neck, a tribal design on her lower back and a flower on her ankle. And we mustn’t forget Winnie The Pooh etched on Kerry’s bum cheek – classy.

Kerry Katona is relaunching her career with Dancing On Ice (Pic: Rex Features)

Cheryl burst on to the scene in 2002, when she was selected to be a member of Girls Aloud in TV show Popstars: The Rivals. Five smash-hit albums later and Cheryl went solo, scoring back-to-back number one albums with 3 Words and Messy Little Raindrops. As well as being the face of L’Oreal, the singer/fashionista is also a judge on The X Factor, mentoring winning contestants Joe McElderry and Alexandra Burke. A favourite of Simon Cowell, she has been repeatedly linked to a role on the US version of The X Factor.

Kerry Katona found fame with girl band Atomic Kitten, but left the band just days before the group scored their first number one single. She forged a semi-successful career as a TV presenter, but her real career boost came in 2004 when she won the third series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, and a string of reality shows followed. She lost her contract as the face of Iceland in 2009 after pictures of her taking cocaine emerged in a newspaper, but is trying to rebuild her career with an appearance on the latest series of Dancing On Ice.

In January 2003, just as Girls Aloud were taking off, Cheryl was involved in an altercation with a nightclub attendant at a nightclub in Surrey. The then Miss Tweedy found herself in court charged with racially aggravated assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, with Sophie Amogbokpa alleging the star had used racially abusive language. While cleared of racially aggravated assault, Cheryl was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, sentenced to 120 hours of community service and ordered to pay £3000 prosecution costs on top of £500 compensation. Since then Cheryl has managed to reinvent herself as the nation’s sweetheart, but has still been plagued by minor controversies. During the last series of The X Factor she came under fire for failing to take Gamu to the live rounds, refusing to choose between acts Katie Waissel and Treyc Cohen, and verbally attacking Wagner live on air.

Kerry Katona and controversy have become synonymous in recent years. Katona was heavily criticised for smoking and drinking alcohol during her pregnancies, but dismissed criticism of her behaviour. In October 2008 Kerry appeared on This Morning with heavily slurred speech, and grew increasingly defensive when it was suggested she may have an alcohol problem. Things got worse the following year when a tabloid published photos of her taking cocaine, and she was promptly dropped from the Iceland television campaign. She has since admitted she would spend days on end taking cocaine with then-husband Mark Croft. We could go on, but it’s probably best to look to the future: Kerry has now ditched Croft, cleaned up her act and is now trying to make amends. She recently went back to the This Morning studios, admitting her previous interview motivated her to sort her life out , and is now hoping to skate her way back in to the public’s affections.

Face Off winner round three: They’ve both had their fair share of controversy, but Kerry has managed to survive more scandals than the tabloids know what to do with.